Tricked to pay administrative fees for loans that never materialised left borrower poorer.
The case of how a man was scammed by moneylenders was brought to light by Michael Chong, head of the MCA’s Public Services and Complaints Department yesterday.
After failing to get loans from four banks since June, a man who only wanted to be known as “Tan” was forced to seek loans through social media.
In early September, he connected with three moneylenders who were interested to give him loans.
The total intended loan was about RM124,000, divided between the three lenders.
However, none of the three had any intention of lending him money.
According to Tan, one tricked him into paying RM8,600 in fees, purportedly for administrative purposes.
Another conned him of RM5,000, which was half of the requested loan of RM10,000, using the same excuse.
He revealed that one of the scammers even forged documents from Bank Negara to make his business look legitimate.
Chong said that Tan’s debts to the loan sharks have been settled by a family member, but this ordeal has left him RM16,380 poorer.
Chong added that four police reports have been lodged.